Housing plan at Hackensack hotel site advances
Thursday, September 9, 2010
BY MONSY ALVARADO
The Record
STAFF WRITER
HACKENSACK – Two mid-rise residential buildings are closer to occupying the site of the Best Western Oritani Hotel on Hackensack Avenue.
The 226-unit project was approved late Wednesday night by the Planning Board, but the developer will have to ask the City Council to waive its obligation to include affordable housing apartments as part of the project. Board Attorney Richard Malagiere said the Planning Board does not have the jurisdiction to decide on the matter.
The 4.2-acre site is located within a housing zone, which requires at least 15 percent of the units built to be affordable housing units, according to city officials. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. is looking to build luxury rentals.
Joseph Augustyn, a planner hired by the city to develop its affordable housing plan, testified Wednesday that the city is in need of rehabilitating units and not so much in building them. Developers can give funds to the city to rehabilitate units, but that would be a decision for the council, according to testimony.
Ronald Ladell, vice president of development for AvalonBay Communities, Inc. in Woodbridge, said he was excited with the Planning Board’s decision, and would reach out to the City Council as soon as possible.
“We are hopeful we can move forward with this community in the near future.”
Mayor Karen Sasso and City Councilman Marlin Townes, who sit on the board, said they liked the revisions that were agreed to on Wednesday.
“Most of what we have done is common sense and I think to be able to stand before my citizens and back a project is the most important thing for me,’’ Townes said. “For what I’ve seen, and the way our professional and the professionals on their side have come to these agreements, I think from the first day I liked it and now I’m almost in love with it.”
The 7-0 approval came with several conditions, which include a 50 percent limit on the vinyl used outside the building, and the number of parking spaces the developer will have to include. The board also is going to allow the developer to have 44 fewer parking spaces than the 495 required under city ordinance. Initially, the developer wanted a variance to construct 88 fewer spaces.
The developer must also try and get the approval from its neighbors, The Shops at Riverside and The Home Depot Shopping Center, to build a sidewalk which would allow residents to access the commercial properties.
Ladell told the board that he has been talking to both owners about getting approval for the walkways, but said he can’t guarantee that the owners would be willing.
AvalonBay Communities will have to submit new plans to the board in time for its Oct. 13 meeting which will incorporate the revisions.
The plans call for the construction of two four-story buildings which will contain studios, as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The project will also include a pool, circular driveways and parking garages, according to plans submitted to the city.
The L-shaped lot is owned by Dasa Company LLC, and Avalon is under contract to buy the property, company officials said. Avalon plans to demolish the hotel, and a Japanese restaurant on the site.
Company officials did not know when construction would begin, but said they hope the project attracts singles, and younger couples, as well as “empty nesters” with grown children. Avalon has constructed similar residential projects in other Bergen County communities, including Edgewater, Lyndhurst and Rutherford.
E-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com